Your Fault
by kaneki-coffee
Summary: Hide finally finds Kaneki in the depths of CCG hell, but escaping is a different matter altogether.


"Kaneki! Stop groaning, _please_. We need to be quiet. Look at me - just breathe, okay? You're gonna be fine. We can get through this." Hide crouched over Kaneki's crippled body, covering his mouth with a bleeding hand. They were trapped in the air vents, the weak aluminum walls bending beneath their combined weight. It was dark, but Hide could make out the faint traces of blood where he had dragged Kaneki from.

"Run away," Kaneki gasped, biting his tongue to keep from screaming. He could taste the sharp tang of blood as it ran into the back of his throat, threatening to choke him. He rolled onto his side to clear his throat, his head falling onto Hide's lap. The pain clouded his vision, but it would fade soon. "I'll catch up once I heal."

"NO!" Hide hissed fiercely, throwing a protective arm around Kaneki's shoulders. "I'm not going to lose you again. Just look at me. Big breath okay? In…and out…in….and out. You'll heal soon and then we can think about escaping."

Kaneki laughed, shifting his hands slightly away from his stomach. Blood began to pour from his stomach, soaking his surgical gown that was now dyed red. He could feel his gut threatening to leave his body and fall to the floor—his hands were the only thing keeping his insides together. "To be honest," Kaneki managed between gasps, "I don't think I can recover from this." The surgical gown clung to his wound, tugging at the healing skin as his cells rejected the cloth. He really needed to just tear the whole thing off, but he also really, really didn't want to die naked.

"We need to keep moving," he murmured into Hide's arm, turning his head to look into Hide's face. Hide stared back, eyes flashing anxiously in the darkness.

"Alright, new plan," Hide whispered. "We ditch the vent—it wasn't a good idea in the first place. We bust out guns blazing and hope for the best."

Kaneki coughed up blood, pulling himself to his knees with help from Hide. Blood leaked from between his fingers as he clutched at his stomach. "Let's just hurry."

Hide slid his way in front of Kaneki, scooping up the smaller boy and carefully placing him on his back. Kaneki's head lolled on Hide's shoulder.

"Stay awake for me, okay?" Hide whispered quietly as he climbed forward in the vent, trying his best not to bounce. "That's all you have to do. Don't you dare fall asleep. We're almost out. You'll be safe, and we can run far, far away from this place."

"The CCG is everywhere, Hide. We can't run from the government. How'd you even find me? They said I was dead to the world. They were going to experiment on me forever." His voice broke, and he began to sob into Hide's neck.

"I would never give up on you, Kaneki," Hide soothed. "Never."

A cracking sound came from behind them, and a large, sharp knife cut through the ventilation shaft easily, splitting it in two. Hide clambered to escape, but his footing slipped and he fell backwards, falling out of the vent. Kaneki cried out in pain, twisting away and sliding from Hide's grip. They fell to the floor of a blindingly bright and open room. A pool of blood gushed from Kaneki's broken body a few feet away.

"NO!" Hide yelled, leaping to his feet, disregarding his own injuries from the fall. A scythe fell in front of him, causing him to skid to a halt. It was the knife that had cut open the vent only a few moments before. A taller man stood beside the scythe wielder, standing silently. His white hair and shining glasses hid his face, but Hide guessed from what he knew that it was Arima.

"No touchy, Hide," Juuzou sang, laughing. He strolled to Kaneki, crouching to check his pulse. He lifted the lid of Kaneki's eye, revealing a crimson mess of veins. A ghoul's eye. "You can't have the mousey. We mustn't play with toys that aren't ours!"

"Juuzou, please. You don't understand!" Hide pleaded, scrambling around the scythe to tug the younger officer away. "He didn't do anything wrong! He's just hurt, please, let me help him! He's my best friend!"

Juuzou regarded Hide with an unreadable glance, clicking his tongue in annoyance. "Why do you want a dead thing like that?"

Hide stopped cold, vision narrowing onto Kaneki's face. "No," he said. "No, no, no." He could feel a heavy hand on his shoulder, Arima trying to pull him away. "NO!" He screamed, ripping from his grasp and shoving Juuzou out of the way. Juuzou spun to the side gracefully, returning to his scythe with only a pout. Hide didn't see—his gaze was only for Kaneki. All that work, down the drain. He had spent months working his way up the food chain, searching for any possible sign of Kaneki. He had finally found him, finally, after so long. He had woken him from his drugged stupor, only to find his stomach gaping open in a wound that would not seem to heal. But it was okay. It would all be okay. Because they had each other, and Hide had promised they could go home. But now Kaneki was sitting lifeless in his arms, and Hide was alone again.

The world seemed to implode around Hide—every thought, every feeling crashing into Hide's bruised and battered body. _Your fault,_ nameless voices whispered with a laugh. _Your fault,_ _ **your fault, YOUR FAULT**_. The words rang through Hide's head, shaking his body and causing him to cry out in an unwavering wail. Arima placed a gentler hand on his shoulder, shaking him from his grief.

"Just breathe, Hideyoshi. It'll be over soon."


End file.
